Angel of Destruction (1994) Concorde-New Horizons/Action-Thriller RT: 86 minutes Rated R (strong violence, nudity, sexual content, language) Director: Charles Philip Moore Screenplay: Charles Philip Moore Music: Terry Plumeri Cinematography: Joe Batac Release date: June 22, 1994 (US) Cast: Maria Ford, Charlie Spradling, Jessica Mark, Antonio Bacci, Chanda, Jimmy Broome, Bob McFarland, Chuck Moore, Timothy D. Baker, James Paolleli, Jim Moss, Steve Nicholson, Mark Duffy, Henry Strzalkowski. Box Office: N/A
Rating: *** ½
Officially, the martial arts actioner Angel of Destruction is a female-driven remake of Blackbelt (1992) starring Don “The Dragon” Wilson. Personally, it reminds me of the Filipino action flick Firecracker (1981) starring the late Jillian Kesner. Filipino exploitation filmmaker Cirio H. Santiago had a hand in both movies; he directed Firecracker and co-produced Angel of Destruction. I can’t say that one is better than the other; I can say I had as great a time watching the newer one as I did the older one.
Like Firecracker, I never heard of Angel of Destruction until a friend hooked me up with the DVD. At least I don’t think I heard of it. It’s possible I previously encountered it while perusing the shelves at West Coast Video circa 1994-95. It’s one of the many, many direct-to-video titles that dropped in the early 90s, the Golden Age of DTV Movies. As of late, I’ve developed an affection for DTV titles. Why, just last week I indulged myself with the insanely bad yet great Zandalee (1991). I don’t think anything could top that overheated slice of Southern-fried melodrama. It’s in a class all by itself.
Angel of Destruction stars Maria Ford (Stripped to Kill II, Slumber Party Massacre III) as Jo Alwood, an undercover cop for Honolulu PD. She’s out for revenge after her sister, professional bodyguard Brit (Spradling, Puppet Master II), is murdered by a hulking psychopath named Robert Kell (in his sole acting credit). This guy’s a piece of work. We first meet him when he shows up at a hotel with a prostitute. Once they get to their room, he excuses himself to go to another room where he kills everybody in sight. He says something about the one guy leaving him to die in Angola. When he finishes there, he returns to his own room and kills the prostitute.
Robert, a mercenary and martial artist, has a thing for sexy S&M rock singer Delilah (Mark, another one-credit wonder). To show much he’s into her, he leaves a gift for her in her dressing room, a flower box with the dead prostitute’s finger in it. Understandably freaked out, Delilah hires Brit to protect her from the creep. Minutes later, the creep shows up at her office and breaks her neck. Jo wants him. That’s why she agrees to take her sister’s place as Delilah’s protector. She’s assisted in this endeavor by fellow detective and lover Aaron Sayles (Bacci, yet another one-credit wonder).
Delilah has more going on besides her stalker. Her manager and lover Danny (Paolleli, One Man Army) is an abusive sleazebag. She wants to get out of his slimy grip promising “If this album hits, I’ll drop him like a greased pig.” The singer’s main backer, record company owner Sonny Luso (McFarland, Showgirl Murders), wants her to change her bad girl image. It’s not selling records anymore. He stands to lose $2M if her next album flops. She refuses so he arranges for her to die in order to collect the insurance money, $1.5M to be exact. This leads to a big fight where Jo takes down several hired hitmen in an amazing display of topless martial arts. Yes, you read it right, topless. AW YEAH! She doesn’t do it alone though. She has a bit of help from Robert, superfan that he is. He’s saving her for something, something totally twisted and f***ed up.
Let’s talk about Robert for a moment. This is one seriously deranged dude. He hangs out at a bar with a lot of other mercenaries, all of them deranged dudes. He’s angry about a job in Angola gone wrong so he kills the guy who hired him for the gig. He’s also a serial killer. It stems from his time in Vietnam during the war. He married a Vietnamese woman who was later raped and murdered by American GIs. It f***ed him up real bad. Finally, he’s a stalker obsessed with Delilah. Why? How does she fit into his delusions? This is never explained. What we do know is that he doesn’t like it when others interfere with his plans for her. He has to see them through. To this end, he kidnaps Delilah’s female lover Reena (Chanda, Erotic Boundaries) and forces Jo to perform in Delilah’s place. Oh, did I mention that Jo is a former stripper? I’ll bet she never though these skills would come in handy in her current profession.
Cirio H. Santiago isn’t the only producer of note on Angel of Destruction. Schlockmeister Roger Corman serves as executive producer. It was released under the Concorde-New Horizons banner, the distribution company he founded after parting ways with New World in the early 80s. Although it takes place in Hawaii, it was actually shot in the Philippines. It’s kind of obvious with all the Filipino extras. Watching Angel of Destruction, I felt like I was in exploitation heaven with all the gratuitous nudity, bloody violence, clumsily staged fights, bad acting and dopey dialogue.
Spradling was originally set to star, but she balked at the topless fight scene. She was replaced by Ford and relegated to the role of Brit. She exits early, but not before getting a cool kick-ass scene of her own where she beats the tar out of a group of thugs assaulting the young girl she was hired to retrieve. Just after delivering the final blow to a strategic target, she says, “The broken nose is for the girl – the vasectomy’s free.” Credit for this awesome line goes to writer-director Charles Philip Moore (Blackbelt). If only Spradling had the ability to deliver it in a convincing manner.
I’m not going to lie to you or myself. The acting in Angel of Destruction is bad. It’s bad to the point of fits of laughter by those watching. All it really has going for it is the hotness of the female leads who show their boobs a lot over the course of 86 action-packed minutes. There are two musical performances by Delilah; one at a seedy S&M club and the other for a music video that definitely can’t be shown on MTV or VH1. Then there’s Ford’s topless fight scene. The only thing she’s wearing is a thong. It’s a brilliant marriage of violence and sex appeal.
I need to correct something I said earlier. In my research, I discovered Angel of Destruction did get a theatrical release albeit a small one. It didn’t open here in Philadelphia, I can tell you that. I would have been all over it. Also, it didn’t come out on video until 1998 which means I couldn’t have spotted it at West Coast Video when I thought I did. Okay, whatever. It still feels like a DTV movie to me. Either way, it’s still exploitation movie greatness in its total badness. If this makes sense to you, you are part of its intended audience.
